New York: UN Secretary-General António Guterres has warned that a proposed law blocking funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) would have devastating consequences.
Guterres highlighted that such a move could trigger a humanitarian catastrophe, severely affecting the millions of Palestinian refugees who rely on the agency’s services for education, healthcare, and social support.
Two bills before the Israeli parliament could put a halt to the lifesaving operations of UN Palestine relief agency, UNRWA, which has been indispensable and irreplaceable ‘more than ever’ over the past year of war in Gaza, Guterres added.
Guterres said at the Security Council stakeout in New York that, “That’s why I have written directly to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to express profound concern about draft legislation that could prevent UNRWA from continuing its essential work in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, such a measure would suffocate efforts to ease suffering and tensions in Gaza and the entire Occupied Palestinian Territory, warning that “it would be a catastrophe in what is already an unmitigated disaster.”
.@UNRWA – more than ever – is indispensable.@UNRWA – more than ever – is irreplaceable. pic.twitter.com/NH3ufwx3Rg
— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) October 8, 2024
According to the World Health Organization, over 6% of Gaza’s population has been killed or injured as Israel’s military campaign nears its one-year mark. The situation has left at least 10,000 people trapped under rubble.
Meanwhile, Médecins Sans Frontières criticized Israeli evacuation orders in northern Gaza, which have forced tens of thousands to flee to overcrowded southern areas, so-called humanitarian zone between Al-Mawasi and Deir Al-Balah worsening humanitarian conditions.
The organization urged Israel to halt forced displacements and allow critical humanitarian aid into the north, warning of severe civilian suffering if the situation continues.
This crisis underscores the humanitarian challenges in the region, echoing UN Secretary-General Guterres’ concerns about the potential catastrophe if UNRWA, which aids millions of Palestinian refugees, is blocked.
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